---
layout: docs
page_title: Boundary Health Endpoints
description: |-
  Verify the Boundary controller server is up and able to receive requests
---

## Boundary Health Endpoints

Boundary provides health monitoring through the `/health` path using a listener
with the `"ops"` purpose. By default, a listener with that purpose runs on port
`9203`. See the [example configuration](#example-configuration) section for an
example listener stanza in a `config.hcl` file.

### Requirements

To enable the controller health endpoint, any Boundary instance must be
started with a controller. That is, a `controller` block and a `purpose = "api"`
listener must be defined in Boundary's configuration file. Additionally, a
`purpose = "ops"` listener must also be defined in Boundary's configuration
file. Under these conditions, the `ops` server (which hosts the controller health
api) will be exposed.

### Shutdown Grace Period

Optionally, when the controller health endpoint is enabled, Boundary can be
configured to change the controller health response to `503 Service Unavailable`
upon receiving a shutdown signal, and wait a configurable amount of time before
starting the shutdown process.
 
This feature is designed to integrate with load balancers to reduce the risk of
an outgoing Boundary instance causing disruption to incoming requests.
 
In this state, Boundary is still capable of processing requests as normal, but
will report as unhealthy through the controller health endpoint. In
load-balanced environments, this would cause this "unhealthy" instance to be
removed from the pool of instances eligible to handle requests, and thereby, reducing the
likelihood that it will receive a request to handle during shutdown.
 
This feature is disabled by default, even if the controller health endpoint is
enabled. You can set it up by defining `graceful_shutdown_wait_duration` in the
`controller` block of Boundary's configuration file. The value should be set to
a string that is parseable by
[ParseDuration](https://pkg.go.dev/time#ParseDuration).

### API

The new controller health service introduces a single read-only endpoint:

| Status        | Description                                                    |
|--------------|----------------------------------------------------------------|
| `200`        | `GET /health` returns HTTP status 200 OK if the controller's api gRPC Server is up |
| `5xx`        | `GET /health` returns HTTP status `5XX` or request timeout if unhealthy |
| `503`        | `GET /health` returns HTTP status `503 Service Unavailable` status if the controller is shutting down |

All responses return empty bodies. `GET /health` does not support any input.

## Example configuration 

Health checks are available for a controller defined with a `purpose = "ops"`
listener stanza. For details on what fields are allowed in this stanza, refer to
the documentation about [TCP Listener](/boundary/docs/configuration/listener/tcp).

An example listener stanza:

```hcl
controller {
  name = "boundary-controller"
  database {
      url = "postgresql://<username>:<password>@10.0.0.1:5432/<database_name>"
  }
}

listener "tcp" {
	purpose = "api"
	tls_disable = true
}

listener "tcp" {
	purpose = "ops"
	tls_disable = true
}
```

To enable a shutdown grace period, update the `controller` block with a defined
wait duration:

```hcl
controller {
  name = "boundary-controller"
  database {
      url = "env://BOUNDARY_PG_URL"
  }
  graceful_shutdown_wait_duration = "10s"
}
```

A complete example can be viewed under the [Controller
configuration](/boundary/docs/configuration/controller#complete-configuration-example)
docs.